Ranji Trophy Elite Group-C
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 5: Brilliant Abdul Samad’s back to back centuries in a single session against Assam at home on the other day and formidable Jharkhand at their home today, portraits picture of his explosiveness and urge of scoring briskly at bigger circuit of the game.
Samad was in awe-inspiring touch against Jharkhand today, scoring 128 runs off 75 balls, studded with 10 fours and 11 sixes to help Jammu and Kashmir score 441 runs and earn a first innings lead of 182 runs on day-3 of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group-C match at ISCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi.
Suryansh Raina (76), skipper Shubham Singh Pundir (56), Abid Mushtaq (50) and Henan Nazir (30) were the other main contributors. All-rounder Abid, in particular, showed character with the bat down the order, after shining with the ball in Jharkhand’s first innings.
Earlier, Jharkhand had scored 259 runs off 84 overs in their first innings. Sourabh Tiwari top scored with 81 runs, while Kumar Deobrat (35), Md Nazim (33) and Utkarsh Singh (28) were the other contributors. From Jammu and Kashmir, left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq was the wrecker-in-chief, who took 5 important wickets by conceding 56 runs in his 21 overs, while Umar Nazir bagged 3 wickets and Mohammad Mudhasir claimed 2 wickets.
Trailing by 182 runs, Jharkhand were struggling at 103/4 in their second essay at stumps today. Ishan Jaggi (11) and Virat Singh (1) were at the crease when the stumps were drawn. Md Nazim (39) and Utkarsh Singh (29) were the main scorers.
From Jammu and Kashmir, Abid Mushtaq, who took 5-wicket haul in the first innings, was again pick of the bowlers, bagging 2 wickets, while Mohammad Mudhasir and Auqib Nabi claimed 1 wicket each.
Jharkhand is still 79 runs behind, having 6 wickets in hand with one day’s play left in the match. So, J&K enjoys a certain edge to script an outright victory.
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